Kelly Clarkson Reveals Unusual New Project

Kelly Clarkson shared a secret project she’s been working on, and it’s a little off the beaten path from anything she’s done before. The artist is appearing on a new mixtape derived from the music of Hamilton, the mega-hit hip-hop Broadway musical about Alexander Hamilton, singing a new version of the song “It’s Quiet Uptown."

The mixtape is a collection of reimagined songs from the Hamilton soundtrack song by a slew of music’s biggest stars, including Alicia Keys, Sia, the Roots, Ben Folds, Usher and even Jimmy Fallon. The album is due out Dec. 2, and available for pre-order now.

Clarkson has been looking forward to branching out musically since she signed with a new label, Atlantic, known for its soul artists. She says she would love to do a soul project, and would even be up for creating a country record. This Hamilton remix may be the first step on her journey outside of pop — it does check one of her genre boxes, Broadway.

“But I will have a country album that will come out. I always tell people I might do Broadway one day, I might do an R&B album. I just like music. It doesn’t just stop at just one genre,” she has said.

The artist is also no stranger to putting her own spin on previously recorded tunes, as she performed a unique audience-requested cover at each of her shows on the Piece by Piece tour, and she’s also been releasing new versions of a variety of tunes for free online. She even announced her new label with a series of covers of Atlantic artists, celebrating the kind of music the label produces.

“They love every part of my personality as far as, like, all my colors,” she said. “I love the country side of me, and I love the Broadway side of me, and I love the pop side of me and the soulful side of me, and they are down to make really whatever record I’m into, which is real rare, so I’m super-excited about it.”